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living in whistler

50 posts & 25 voices | Started 2 years ago by juan | Latest reply from molgrips

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juan - Member

Ok just scouting here.
There a postdoc position in UBC. And I am wondering if it's worth applying for or not.
Job wise it's ok, could be better be could be worst. So pass the exitment to say I could ride the north shore yeah (ok not really as I am not good enough to do that) i was wondering how is it to live in vancouver.
Is the city too much americanised? What about people? Will I be able to find decent food?
I know I won't be able to ride all year long but I'll console myself with skiing in winter. What about things such as culture?

Etc etc

Any pointers gladly appreciated.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

I've only been on holiday to Whistler and only driven through Vancouver, but I have to say that Vancouver looked like a really nice city to live in.

You might have to learn to speak "proper French" if you move to Canada though

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

Well people from montreal do not speak proper french, not matter what they think
For example there is no such thing as "bleuet" it's myrtilles FFS
Plus it's quite far from Vancouver

Posted 2 years ago #
PeterPoddy - Member

Yeah the French-Canadians can be a funny lot. My family have experience of this.....

Vancouver will be bloody cold in the winter.

The general Canadians are very amicable, friendly people. Laid back, happy to help, I find.
IME the Canadians are like the Australians like to think THEY are....

My sister is in Vancouver right now

Posted 2 years ago #
PeterPoddy - Member

Well people from montreal do not speak proper french, not matter what they think

True, but YOU try telling them that!

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

Vancouver is a fantastic city but one of the most expensive places in the world to live.

It's not americanised at all, the only fat people we saw in Vancouver were american and virtually every car has a bike/ski rack.

loads of decent food

oh and whistler is a fair way from vancouver but getting closer with the new highway

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

oh and it rains a LOT in vancouver

Posted 2 years ago #
domino - Member

Whistler is not part of Vancouver and I doubt you would want to live there and commute to Vancouver on a daily basis - its a 1.5-2 hour drive. Living in Vancouver would be more sensible, in North Van you have access to Grouse and Cypress for skiing and of course the North Shore for riding. Would love to live there

Posted 2 years ago #
gonefishin - Member

Vancouver will be bloody cold in the winter.

Vancouver isn't cold in the winter, at least no colder than most of the UK. When I was last there they were thinking about bidding for the 2010 Winter olympics and one of the no campaign's reasons for not having Vancouver as the host was that Vancouver doesn't get winters.

The only downside that I remember was not being able to walk anywhere without bumping into a film crew!

Posted 2 years ago #
toby1 - Member

I personally would move there tomorrow if I got the option ... not sure my wife would but hey ho

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

vancouver has a similar winter climate to scotland

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

Thanks everyone.

I personally would move there tomorrow if I got the option

Well I may have the option but I have to factor everything including the fact that I won't be able to see my friends and family. There is more to life than just riding (hence the fact this thread is NOT on the bike forum) and lets face I am in noway good enough to ride the northshore or whistler bike park.

That is why I asked about vancouver

Posted 2 years ago #
oddjob - Member

Vancouver is often voted one of the best cities in the world to live in and I would move there in a minute.
It does rain a lot and it is not that close to Whistler, but I would certainly have a go.
I was once told that the time to decide if you want a job or not is when you have an offer on the table so go for it and see what happens.
I think there is a reasonable amount of basic climate etc info on Wikipedia if you are interested

Posted 2 years ago #
john_drummer - Member

I was in Vancouver for a few days on holiday this summer. I too would be there like a shot.

Climate is supposedly a bit like Manchester. But it's much nicer than Manchester.

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

Lifestyle wise, Canadians get less paid holiday per year but have more public holidays. Along with the family thing the other reason we aren't living in Vancouver right now is that Canadian universities can be pretty nasty places in comparison to British ones, they are far more competitive and run much more like businesses. The UBC campus is a lovely place though.

The holiday thing isn't massive important as you are less than 2 hours form some of the best riding/skiing in the world and Vancouver has a very rich cultural mix

Posted 2 years ago #
jimmer himself - Member

I am in noway good enough to ride the northshore or whistler bike park.

Have you tried? The mountains on the North Shore aren't all 20ft high skinnies and mental drops, there is some sensible riding there too. Plus the Bike Park caters for all and anything up to and including the intermediate trails can be ridden on an XC bike quickly - well a 4" + 4" travel full suss or 5" travel hardtail.

There is a ton of superb XC riding in the valley around Whistler, up the road in Pemberton and an hour or so North of Vancouver in Squamish - plus plenty in-between I suspect.

Like some of the others I've only ever been there on holiday and driven through Vancouver. But in 1997 Vancouver had a massive influx of people from Hong Kong and the place looks like a real melting pot of cultures.

I looked very seriously at moving out there a year or so ago, but in the end friends and family kept me in the UK - not against my will I hasten to add!!

Posted 2 years ago #
lobby_dosser - Member

one of the few places I would definately move to.

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

Thank everyone I'll dig wiki to see what the climate looks like.
Cheers

Posted 2 years ago #
plumber - Member

After my recent road trip in BC I can't claim to know that much but I would say that on the face of it Pemberton would appeal to me as a place to live

Squamish is strip mall hell but the riding is ace, Whistler seems like a shit hole to live in. Vancouver seems pretty much like any American urban sprawl I've been to but I willing to bet its a nice place to be when you know your way around.

From listening to the radio there seem to be all sorts of unresolved political issues going on at present in BC and living in Alberta for the last 10 months I can imagine why. And it is seen by locals as a very expensive place to live

I found Nelson a perfect little town to that I would really like to live in for a while however its miles from Whistler.

Good luck with it though

Plum

Posted 2 years ago #
domino - Member

From listening to the radio there seem to be all sorts of unresolved political issues going on at present in BC and living in Alberta for the last 10 months I can imagine why. And it is seen by locals as a very expensive place to live

We spoke to a guy who ran a bike/ski shop in Golden - he orignially emigrated from the UK to Banff and then moved to Golden. He said the same thing and said the emigration process to Alberta was much easier than that to BC. He also agreed that BC was an expensive place to live.

Posted 2 years ago #
plumber - Member

I should point out that relative distance is different in Canada.

The trip from Vancouver to Whistler would be considered negliable by most Canadians standards, I'm now in the same mind set and think nothing of driving 2 hours for breakfast on a weekend.

As I've mentioned before, according to one of my friends (who works in imigration) imigration to Canada has really tightened up in the last year.

Personally I'd rather be in the Maritime alps than Whistler/Vancouver - I think the riding that I did with Riviera bike surpasses anything I did in BC with the exception of Squamish which was on a par

Plum

Posted 2 years ago #
RHSno2 - Member

Awesome place.

I did a year in whistler 11 years ago and got to see lots of the area.

Was going to move to Vancouver. America isn't that bad btw. Open your mind Frenchy Plenty of singletrack riding. Its not all Hucks and Gaps.

Didn't have much chance to have a chat on Sat. Sorry.

Posted 2 years ago #
markgraylish - Member

I have lived in Vancouver (well, North Van!) for the past 2½ years.
Previously, I lived near Wigan.

So yes, Vancouver is somewhat of a step up!

Climate wise, we have just had the best summer I ever remember. Hardly any rain and months and months of blue skies (though sometimes obscured by smoky forest fires!).

Of course it does rain but as someone brought up in NW England, I'd say England has more rainy days whereas this part of BC tends to have heavier downpours for shorter periods. (YMMV is you lived in Kent, of course)

And, of course, when it's raining in the city in winter, its fresh powder on the local ski-hills. I can finish work at 5 and get 4 hours of flood-lit skiing afterwards.

It's a seriously cosmopolitan place to live (compared to Wigan!) and a huge number of hot single chicks who can ride/ski/paddle/run better than I can

Posted 2 years ago #
markgraylish - Member

Is the city too much americanised?

What do you mean be americanised? Strip malls - yes, sprawling freeways everywhere, no!

What about people?

Many different nationalities. Most extremely polite and law-abiding. Lots of hot chicks! Some deprivation in certain areas and visible homelessness. Some problem with drug gangs but they seem to be killing themselves rather than innocent bystanders.

Will I be able to find decent food?

Well, you're French so your definition of decent food may be different to mine but there's plenty of choice of restaurants. Supermarkets don't have as much variety as UK and some of the Canadian processed food is truely dreadful

Culture? Wouldn't know - not really my cup of tea but there is a museum of mining just up the road near Squamish

BTW: UBC is located in a fantastic position at the end of a headland jutting out into the Straight of Georgia with the world famous (infamous?) nude Wreck Beach just below the cliffs

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmichaelwright - Member

Canadian processed food is truely dreadful

mmmmmm kraft dinners

Posted 2 years ago #
john_drummer - Member

I spent almost 2 weeks in Canada this summer, as mentioned briefly above.

5 nights in Canmore - I would've loved to be able to get out on a bike, but MrsH doesn't ride so that cancelled that; rained a bit but it's in the mountains, what can you expect?

2 nights in Calgary (sis lives in Peace River & was getting married). I could happily not go to Calgary again. Nothing particularly noteworthy

1 night in Kamloops en route to Vancouver. 39degC during the day!

3 nights in Vancouver - not a drop of rain while we were there. Downtown on Robson Street, a short walk from the waterfront & Stanley Park.

Obvious homelessness, as mentioned above, but still very polite. Loads of restaurants, particularly Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese. There was one French restaurant across the road from the hotel, too.

Then a long drive back to Lake Louise for our final overnight stay before getting a plane back from Calgary. OK, bad planning - should've flown into Calgary & back from Vancouver, might then have had time for a bit of whale-watching

The scenery between Alberta & Vancouver is fantastic, but apart from 3 eagles I never saw a single bear, moose, wolf, coyote, bison or anything else remotely interesting.

Apart from these fellas:

more pics here

There are plenty of culture-vulture things in Vancouver as well, from what we saw

Posted 2 years ago #
Burts - Member

As another ex-pat in Vancouver, I'll just echo some previous comments.

The "horrendous rain" in Vancouver is always over-exaggerated. As Mark noted, the UK has more rainy days than Vancouver as the rain here tends to drop with more intensity. There's also a very noticeable micro-climate in effect, where the North Shore and mountains get considerably more rain than Vancouver city and the suburbs (almost double). In the winter that will be snow falling so most outdoor-types are happy people, although the biking suffers a bit. Before I moved here I spent 8yrs in London and the weather here (downtown) is better, especially the summer.

Plenty of non-gnarlcore biking for mere mortals, if you can ride a UK trail centre you can ride a blue trail here. Just don't expect fast & flowy bridleways like the UK (unless you're on the man-made Whistler-type trails), its generally slower, more technical but lots of fun.

Property & living costs are similar to southern UK, but we definitely have a better quality of life thanks to the more relaxed Canadian attitudes and availability of natural playgrounds on our doorstep. 30mins from home or work to the North Shore for summer biking & winter skiing, 60mins to Squamish, 100mins to Whistler. We miss family & friends a lot, and if we ever return to the UK that would be the only reason. In the meantime, we're loving it.

BC Photos

Posted 2 years ago #
rs - Member

another expat here, and can't add much more than the previous guys, climate is awesome, 2 summers so far both far exceeded anything i remember in 30 years in the uk, i'm actually sick of the sun now and want some cold, rain and snow. There is riding for normal people, 3 ski hills on your doorstep, etc etc etc

Posted 2 years ago #
BitterBaldingFatty - Member

@ Burts: do you live downtown? Is it feasible to find somewhere central with space to wash/maintain bikes?

Posted 2 years ago #
scruff - Member

the place looks like a real melting pot of cultures.

Yes, Crystal Meth is enjoyed by everyone !

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

Thanks everyone for your help.
I have sent an e-mail to have more info about the job.
Plumb I am in the maritime alps right now and I just hate it. Well countryside is amazing probably among the prettiest in the world, just spoiled by people.
There is some day I wish I could just go on a rampage.

Posted 2 years ago #
rs - Member

@bitterbaldingfatty, don't know if all apartments have this but in the underground parking for my building there are a couple of stalls set aside with a hose hooked up to wash your car and bikes, maintenance is a bit more of an issue, I usually make sure the bike is clean and take it in the lift up to my apartment.

Posted 2 years ago #
markgraylish - Member

@bitterbaldingfatty - I used to live in an apartment which had heated lockers (they were too hot actually) so the bike used to dry really quickly with mud on it and then I'd just brush the mud off with a stiff brush the next day. Very rarely did I need to use water...

Posted 2 years ago #
doug_basqueMTB.com - Member

Juan, my brother lives in Vancouver and has for the last couple of years. He loves it. He's gone from living in Rugby and being a podgy over-worked ginger ale drinker (sorry Gord) to being a fit, healthy outdoors guy. It's really done him the world of good! He climbs and bikes all summer and skis all winter. He's been asked to join the local ski patrol this winter which for me shows how friendly people are there. He's really only just started 'proper' mountain biking since he's moved there. He'd been a couple of times before (and admittedly is pretty fearless, managing the Laggan black on his first 'real' day out) but finds loads of moderate stuff to do out there. His wife does loads of mellow biking with him too and she's not as fearless. They both have good jobs so I guess they don't worry about cash so much and I don't really know much about that. The life seems to revolve around the outdoors with people getting Friday afternoons off and floodlit skiing right next to the city!

She was really worried about the climate but seems to love it. They get great summers and wet winters from what I can gather.

If any of you other ex-pats see a ginger Scot (he say's strawberry blond) on a baby blue Inbred then it's almost certainly my brother!

Posted 2 years ago #
Burts - Member

@bitterbaldingfatty. Yes, downtown between St. Pauls Hospital and Sunset Beach, 3mins to the sand! Just like the others, my apartment block has underground parking and an area set aside with hose, its fairly common. Lockers big enough for bikes are harder to find, most block will have a secure bike room but as these are communal I would only keep a ratty commuter in there. I use the lift for my good bikes and keep them on the balcony.

Posted 2 years ago #